I also went shopping for trinkets and souvenirs. I wanted to bring something back for my coworkers. Thankfully, the locals helped me avoid overpriced tourist traps so I could help smaller businesses. I couldn’t help but feel my heart twinge whenever I saw a couple shopping around the stalls.
I even ate dinner alone at fancy restaurants. I was surrounded by couples and families who were having the time of their lives. I usually ended up finishing my nights at the bar with a martini in hand.
Hawaii could be a very romantic place at times. Couples made out beside waterfalls. Newlyweds had their weddings on the beach. Married couples cuddled together on a hammock with their kids. I wouldn’t mind having a romantic walk on the beach.
Nonetheless, the days passed by like a blur. I was actually happy to head back to the mainland and my job. This vacation had been utterly unproductive. It felt like I was stuck in a fantasy world that I couldn’t enjoy. I was eager to reenter the real world.
I spent most of my days watching the sun rise and set. I usually lied on a hammock in the shade as the wind softly rocked me. There really wasn’t much left for me to do. I had taken the guided tour across the mountains. I had even driven an ATV over grassy knolls. However, I was too scared to go on a zip line.
It wasn’t like I hated Hawaii. In fact, I loved the natural beauty of the island. I photographed everything that caught my eye. The most fun I had was a helicopter ride over the island. I got a bird's-eye view of the island’s scale which was perfect for photography.
I still ended up back at the bar at the end of the day. A few single women were interested in me but none of them caught my attention. I almost went back home with a hula dancer but decided against it. I had never been the playboy type.
I was content to wander off into the beach. I had a bit of a hangover that was going to pound in the morning. It was well into dusk and the street lights were coming on.
Many families and tourists were clearing out of the beach. Only couples remained who wanted to take full advantage of the night scene. I trudged through the sand alone and mulled over my romantic life.
Or lack thereof.
Whether in business or romance, I had never been the type of guy to commit unless I was absolutely sure. I needed to feel in love with a woman to make that step. I didn’t know if I would ever find that special someone.
I had more chemistry with my accountant than I did with the women I was dating. In all modesty, I was good looking and had a great job. Women were attracted to me but it was usually a one way street. I hated to lead a girl on when I didn’t feel the same way.
A sharp pain in my foot broke my concentration. I looked down to see a jagged peddle stuck to the sole of my shoe. I knew I should have worn thicker sandals.
I had gone far off the beaten path and into the more untamed parts of the island. There was a small pebbly trail running along the coast. There was nary a tourist in sight. Some signs warned against straying too far into the ocean. I figured I could use the solitude.
The hike helped clear my head. There was nothing but green grass on one side and miles of blue ocean water on the other. I watched as the foamy waves broke against the beach and cliffs. I wanted to take a photo but I stopped myself. I decided to just let this moment be and commit it to memory.
Standing above a cliff, I entered a state of Zen. The bustle of the city seemed so far away. I saw the bright red coral under the blue ocean. I heard waves crash against the cliffs.
And I also heard someone cry out. “Help! Please help me!”
I snapped awake and tried to find out where the voice was coming from. I was far off the path that most tourists followed. No safety patrols roamed these parts. The person hollering was definitely in trouble.
I heard a high-pitched feminine voice yell again. “Please help!”
I saw a rocky trail leading to the side of a cliff. The voice seemed to be emanating from there. I followed the path and saw that it descended to the ocean. The sight of a hand grasping at rocks stopped my breath cold.
The woman was well into the tideline. The sheer strength of the ocean seemed to pull her away from the relative safety of the cliff’s underside. Foamy seawater covered her before breaking against the cliff base.
I couldn’t believe what was happening. I felt like I was on the scene of a Hollywood movie. There was no time to gawk, however, when I saw her head resurface from beneath the water. “Please, I’m slipping!”
I was a business executive, not an action hero.
I looked around wildly for help. There was no one in sight. We were too far from the beach for there to be coast guards.
It was up to me to save her.
As luck would have it, I had been on the college swim team. I wasn’t an Olympic worthy athlete like some of my teammates but I was a damn fine swimmer. Back in the mainland, I even went to do a few laps after work at the company swimming pool. Now, I had to put my skills to the test. A young woman’s life depended on me.
Letting instinct take control, I took off my shirt and kicked away my sandals. I emptied my pockets of anything that wasn’t waterproof. I raced towards the path leading down the cliff. Sharp rocks cut my feet but the adrenaline in my veins blocked the pain. Maybe it would’ve been better to toss my sandals later but it was too late to cry over it now.
When I got to the edge, I stopped to think of a plan. Getting into the water was easy but getting out was trickier. I could easily end up dragged under the water like her. A powerful tide could suck me down to Davey Jones’ locker within a minute.
Compared to an indoor swimming pool, it was different swimming in an ocean. The movement and tempo of the waves was unpredictable. I had seen more signs warning me about riptides and whirlpools than I could count.
The girl was hanging on the cliff’s edge by her fingertips. I knew the situation could change for the worse if I didn’t act fast enough. “Help!”
There wasn’t any time to think of the risk involved. The girl was hanging on by a thread. I didn’t want her death on my conscience.
I had to act.
Chapter 2
Throwing caution to the wind, I dove straight into the water. The cool waves made it hard to swim. This wasn’t anything like swimming down a lane at an in-door pool or even the local beach. I felt like a magnet getting pulled in two opposing directions.
Letting the young woman’s cries guide me, I swam against the tide to her location. There was a rock platform near the cliff that I could use to pull her up. There were a set of submerged rocks that looked like stalagmites in a cave. I could use them as handholds to get close to the girl. I waited for the wave to hit the rocks before I made my move.
Taking advantage of the lull in the tide, I swam from rock to rock. I needed a way to get her back up but I could worry about that once she was safe. Finally, I reached out under her arm to support her.
“I got you,” I assured her. I tightened my grip around her for good measure. “You’re safe.”
She was too waterlogged to reply. I only heard her crying, shivering, and sputtering out seawater. Shifting her weight over me, I used my free arm to take us to the cliff side. This allowed me to swim while keeping her safe.
When we reached the cliff, I lifted up the woman and let her gain her a handhold. She was weak from the ordeal but managed to get a good hold on the rock face. I followed her up and supported her with my hand. I was in just as much shock and pain as she was but I had adrenaline numbing my fear.
Finally, we were far up the cliff to rest. I coughed up some water before checking her for any injuries. Her coughing fits had stopped and she didn’t have any major cuts. On the other hand, I had cut myself from swimming between the rocks. I was bleeding but it didn’t look too serious. I just needed to patch myself up in case my cuts got infected.
It only took a couple of minutes to save her but the whole tribulation felt like it took a lifetime.
“Thank you so much!”
I turned to see the young
woman wrap her arms around me as if her life depended on it. Well, it did a moment ago. In any case, I had a bikini-clad woman hugging me at the edge of a cliff. From the size of her bra, she was pretty well-endowed too.
However, there wasn’t the time to think about that. “Hey, are you okay? Any difficulty breathing?”
The woman nodded her head in-between deep breaths. I couldn’t help but notice her heavy breasts jiggling. Her bikini top was waterlogged and I could make out her hard nipples.
In fact, the rest of her was drop dead gorgeous as well. Her silky hair fell down her shoulders and glistened from being waterlogged. Her face was young with pouty lips. It contrasted well with her mature, curvy body. Even in her distressed state, her deep blue eyes shone like diamonds.
She wasn’t particularly tall but she was well built for her size. Her face was that of a college girl but her body was that of a grown woman. It was quite an eye-catching combination.
Nonetheless, I had to take the situation seriously and make sure she was safe. “Hey, are you alright?”
She shook her head. “I’m fine.”
Her accent sounded British. The woman seemed like she was a tourist like me. “Any pain? Anything that feels broken?”
“I better now… thanks to you,” she said, her eyes locked onto me. I felt paralyzed by her gaze. The woman placed her head against my chest and whimpered. “How can I ever repay you?”
I paused for a moment to think. Unlike me, most tourists usually came to Hawaii in groups. “Are you here with friends or family?”
She nodded. “My parents are at the beach near the hotel.”
“Well, let me escort you back to them,” I offered. She wasn’t in a state to head back alone. “I’m Alan by the way.”
She smiled which made my heart skip a beat. “Thank you. I am Lea.”
I felt Lea put a hand around my wrist for support. I guided her up the cliff and onto the trail. I made sure to avoid rocks since she was barefoot. I was half tempted to carry her in my arms but I decided against it. Thankfully, she found the sandals she had left behind.
Once we got on a dirt path, I asked. “How did you end up down there?”
Tears began to well up in her eyes. “Oh… I wanted to get a better look at the coral reef. I ended up slipping and fell.”
I blinked in confusion. You could see the coral reef from the safety of the beach. There was no reason for her to be dangling from the side of a cliff. “What you did was very dangerous. It’s open ocean out here. You can easily end up getting dragged out with the tide.”
I probably sounded like an angry father.
Nevertheless, Lea looked embarrassed. “I’m so sorry for putting you in danger too. My parents were supposed to be with me but… I wanted to go by myself…”
I guessed there had been an argument between Lea and her family. There was no point in crying over spilled milk now that she was safe. “What’s done is done.”
Hand in hand, we neared civilization. Lea looked at me like I was her guardian angel. “I would be dead without you. You were very brave to come after me. Thank you for rescuing me.”
I shrugged since I was guided by instinct than altruism. “There wasn’t any time to think. I just jumped right in.”
Lea had a look of absolute worship on her face. Her hand gripped mine for dear life as if we were back out in the ocean. “I’m thankful for that. There’s barely anyone around here. I don’t think anyone else would’ve been able to save me…”
It was a somber thought. I had lived one day at a time without any regard to the future. Lea just had a brush with death. She was so young and had a whole life ahead of her.
And she was damn beautiful to boot.
Her deep blue eyes had me transfixed. I almost walked into a tree while staring at her. The rest of her body was just as beautiful. Her skimpy bikini revealed quite a bit of her curves.
We eventually made it back to the hotel’s beachfront. Soft sand under my feet beat jagged rocks any day of the week. The heat of the sun never felt more welcomed than now. I never thought I’d miss civilization until facing the full force of the ocean.
Lea spotted a middle-aged man and woman sitting on a beach blanket. “Mum, dad!”
They eyed me with suspicion. Unaware of their daughter’s whereabouts, the father asked. “Lea, what’s going on? Who is this man?”
He probably thought I was some playboy trying to put the moves on his daughter. Her mother was much sharper. “Lea, are you bleeding? What happened?”
A rapid fire conversation with British accents ensued. My name came up a few times as Lea explained to them what had happened. Her parents were torn between anger and relief at their daughter’s tale. Nevertheless, they were happy she was back in one piece. I would’ve loved to have parents as caring as Lea’s back when I was growing up.
Although I had a connection with her, I felt as if it was my cue to leave. I had done my duty and brought Lea back to safety. There was no reason for me to stick around.
However, Lea and her family had other plans. Holding onto my hand, she declared. “This man saved my life.”
Before I could escape, her father brought me in for a bear hug. “Thank you, Alan!”
He nearly knocked the wind out of me. When he released me from his embrace, I said. “It was the right thing to do.”
Lea’s mother was a more practical woman. “You’re injured, Alan. I am a trained nurse. I have a medical kit in our hotel room. Please come with us and we’ll patch you up.”
It sounded more like a command than a show of gratitude. “Yes, ma’am.”
Besides, I was a little worse for wear. The adrenaline had worn off and I was feeling the full brunt of my cuts. It wasn’t too seriously but I needed to get myself disinfected and patched up.
A moment later, I was shacked up in their modest hotel suite. Lea’s mother led me to the bathroom where I could clean my wounds. I ended up stripping out of my clothes and wrapping a towel around my waist. I would’ve felt a little embarrassed if I wasn’t in pain.
However, I was more concerned with Lea’s well-being. I saw her father attending to the girl in the main room. “How is she?”
“The women of our family are tougher than we look,” her mother giggled. “Besides, you look worse for wear.”
She was right.
With my wet clothes drying on the towel rack, I got a good look on my cuts. None of them were too serious but they hurt like hell. I winced when Lea’s mother disinfected the cuts.
With just a towel around my waist, I couldn’t help but feel a little vulnerable being around people I barely knew. Lea’s family seemed to be nice but I wasn’t used to being around a family. My parents were dead and I never had a good relationship with them back when they were alive.
Nonetheless, there was something appealing about the sight of a family that cared about each other. Lea’s mother felt like my own as she tenderly cleaned and dressed up my cuts. When she finished, the woman went to tend to her daughter.
That left me alone with Lea’s father. I learned that he was a member of the British military. The man seemed impressed with my rescue of his daughter. Thankfully, he was not talkative and didn’t ask about what happened at the cliff. The whole incident was a blur to me. Instead, he simply said. “Thank you, Alan.”
Normally, this would’ve been where we parted ways. Lea was safe. They had patched me up.
Yet, I felt this deep connection to the woman I had just saved. I had gone for years without ever feeling that way about another person. Perhaps, it was just the hormones in my body going into overdrive after the thrilling rescue. In any case, I wanted to stay and be with Lea and her family.
Chapter 3
Lea finally returned with a lovely beach gown. Even though she was no longer bikini-clad, I could still make out the curves of her beautiful body. Between her nice body and angelic face, Lea could even make a nun’s outfit look sexy.
“Are you feeling better, Alan?” she
asked sweetly. The smile on her face was positively heart-rending. “Do you need to contact your family? You can use our phone.”
I shook my head. “I came here alone.”
It made me realize that I had come to a magical land like Hawaii completely alone for vacation. It looked like Lea’s father wanted to rectify that when he asked. “Alan, would you like to stay with us for dinner?”
Feeling like an intruder, I hesitated. “I should really head back.”
“To whom?” he asked. The man had me stumped there. “Please, I insist.”
Some of his military background leaked into his words. I knew an order when I heard one. A dinner with a family sounded better than ordering room service by my lonesome self. “Okay…”
The Trans Ultra Collection Vol 3 Page 25